


Heaven and Earth - Kate's Quest

by kattahj



Category: Quest for Camelot
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Magic, Next Generation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-01-01
Updated: 1999-01-01
Packaged: 2017-11-08 15:15:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/444561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kattahj/pseuds/kattahj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The evil Leviathan kidnaps the queen and wants to take over England. Kayley's daughter Kate might be the one to stop him</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heaven and Earth - Kate's Quest

The walls were stronger than Jericho’s. They did not fall when people played music. They also did not fall when more than a hundred knights tried to get through. They just sparkled with blue lightnings and gave the knights unpleasant shocks. The walls weren’t higher than ten feet, but above them the electricity field continued, more powerful than any roof could be.

King Arthur gave Merlin a helpless glance, but Merlin just shook his head. Arthur finally had to face the facts that those walls were as strong as the walls of Hell.

And then that diabolic laughter started. Among the sparkles above the walls the image of a man took form.

“Step back, Arthur, and bend your knees for the true king!” it said.

“I will not yield”, said Arthur and drew Excalibur.

Instantly, a blue flame projected and the sword fell to the ground. Arthur rubbed his hand.

“I’m sorry you’re being so obstinate”, said the image. “But I suppose I’ll just have to let Serpent give that message to your queen.”

The image drew a dagger, shaped as a serpent with gleaming eyes. Arthur stared at it, and then he said, in a shivering but loud voice:

“Knights of the Round Table! You’re dismissed until further notice!”

The image smiled maliciously and then disappeared.

“Your majesty!” said a young girl in a disbelieving voice. “Surely you don’t intend to let him win?!”

The king looked kindly but sad at her.

“Do you have a plan, lady Bridget?” he asked. “Or do you intend to just let my knights force these walls until they’re all fried?”

The girl shrugged, uncomfortable.

“Without a plan, I will not risk my queen’s life”, said Arthur and left.

“I cannot and will not let Leviathan win”, he said to Merlin in the court room. “Did you get any help from the Lady of the Lake?”

“I got a prophecy”, said the wizard. “The Lady told me that no knight will ever break through Leviathan’s walls.”

The king moaned and buried his head in his hands.

“She also said: ‘A woman will offer to help. Do not disregard her humble appearance, because only she can do what you ask. And this is how you’ll recognize her: She has heaven and earth in her eyes’.”

“What on earth does that mean?” asked Arthur, puzzled.

“I have no idea”, answered Merlin frankly.

“Well”, said Arthur with a sigh. “If she’ll offer to help us, I guess we just have to wait.”

Let us proceed to a small farm at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where a young woman was standing shouting herself hoarse.

“Kate! It’s time for your classes! Ka-ate!!”

The woman put her hands on her hips and pushed a few brown locks away from her face.

“KATE! Oh, Garrett, will you stop that! KA-A-ATE!!”

She said “will you stop that” because a hand had taken a firm hold of her thigh and was working its way up.

“Disappeared again, has she?” said a soft voice in her ear.

“As always”, said the woman and sighed. “She is so...”

“Irresponsible, headstrong, wild and foolish”, said her husband. “You know, Kayley, that sounds like someone I know.”

Kayley chuckled, but shook her head and sighed again.

“Oh, come on!” said Garrett. “I used to be the serious one. What has happened to the old careless Kayley?”

“You mean the old reckless Kayley who almost got us both killed?”

“That’s the girl I love!”

His lips touched her ear, and she finally gave in, and pushed her body close to his.

“Well, she’s still here, honey”, she cooed. And then: “Well, hello! Did someone just wake up?”

Her thigh rubbed his.

“Mylord, mylady”, said a dry voice, and the couple parted quickly.

The person speaking was a middle-aged woman, rather skinny, with gray hair and a serious expression on her face.

“Have you seen my little pupil?” she asked.

“Well, I haven’t”, said Garrett lightly and got a sharp elbow in his stomach.

“I’m afraid she’s gone again, lady Prisca”, said Kayley politely. “But don’t worry, she’s probably just playing in the Forest.”

“In the Forbidden Forest!” exclaimed lady Prisca, and she certainly didn’t seem calmed. “How on earth can you let a child play there?”

“I’ve raised her to survive there”, said Garrett tranquilly.

“But you’re...” started the lady, and then she blushed and continued: “If she comes back, I hope you’ll let me know.”

“Thank you, we will”, answered Kayley, and lady Prisca went back inside the house.

Kayley lent on the fence and moaned.

“I try to be dignified like a lady ought to, but somehow that woman always comes around when I’m in a really awkward position.”

“We’re married!” objected Garrett. “We’re allowed to make out! In fact, we have three proofs that we’re allowed to do more than that.”

“But in the middle of the yard?”

Garrett stroke her hair.

“What do you care what that silly woman thinks, anyway?” he asked. “She’s just a dime-a-dozen, and you’re unique!”

“Thank you”, she said, still a bit sad. “But that’s so easy for you to say, isn’t it? She likes you.”

“No she doesn’t”, he said and frowned. “She thinks I’m just as crazy as you are, she just tolerates me because she pities me.”

“Am I crazy?” she asked and buried her hands in his hair.

“No”, he said, emphatically. “She is. She’s just a stupid old hag.”

“You don’t like her, do you?” she said.

“No I don’t. She doesn’t finish her sentences. She always stops short after ‘you are’, and I can never figure out what she was going to say next.”

Kayley laughed heartily, and then she pulled her husband down to the ground and sat down on his stomach.

“Three kids already”, he warned her as she started to take his tunic off.

“Well, it will only be two left if Kate is killed by a man-eating tree.”

But Kate was not being killed by a man-eating tree, for the simple reason that she was not in the Forest at all. She was on her way to Camelot. When she saw a tall figure coming towards her on the road she screw up her eyes, and then she brightened up and waved.

“Greetings, Merlin”, she said happily.

Merlin came closer, and then stopped and looked at her.

“You’re Kate”, he said finally. “You have your mother’s hair.”

“No, I don’t”, said Kate, being contrary. “It’s my own hair, it’s stuck to my head. And I said ‘greetings’!”

“So you did”, answered the wizard. “Greetings, Kate. I apologize very much, but I had a lot on my mind.”

“I know”, said Kate compassionately. “That awful beast Leviathan. I’ll ask the king to make me a knight so I can club him down.”

“The king?”

“Leviathan!”

“I see. So you’re headed for Camelot to ask the king to knight you?”

“Right!”

“Wrong. The king can’t consider your wish right now, he has to plan how to conquer Leviathan. I’m afraid ‘club him down’ just doesn’t work.”

She glared at him.

“You think I’m too little”, she said.

He looked at her. “Yes” didn’t seem like the right thing to say.

“I think you’re untried”, he answered, choosing his words carefully. “Surely you understand that the king can’t dub an untried person?”

She admitted reluctantly that he couldn’t.

“And I’m sure you’re parents don’t approve of this.”

“They don’t mind”, she assured him.

“They don’t know is closer to the truth, I suspect. As it happens, I’m on my way to them right now. Would you like to accompany me to your dwelling?”

“Oh, alright then”, she answered, and even though he was wise enough not to mention it, Merlin could see that she also had her mother’s smile.

 

“Oh, thank God!” said Kayley when she saw the two of them coming down the road. “There she is. And with Merlin of all people!”

“Hello”, said Merlin when he reached the gate. “I believe this is a descendant of yours.”

“Hello Merlin, yes she is”, answered Kayley.

“I know someone who’s late for her lesson”, mumbled Garrett meanwhile to his daughter.

“Oh, come on”, she grumbled. “Do I really have to go, now that Merlin is here and all?”

“Well, Tiny, when he wasn’t here you didn’t go, so then you’ll just have to go now”, said Garrett resolutely.

“I promise you’ll get to talk to him again before he leaves”, said Kayley and shoved her away.

“John and Mallory never have to have lessons”, shouted Kate right before she went into the house.

“D’you think it’s wrong to make her study?” asked Kayley. “After all, most ladies can’t even read.”

“Which could be the reason they’re so ignorant”, answered Garrett.

“Oooh! And I suppose you read?”

“I have valid excuse. Kate’s the brightest kid north of Rome, and I won’t have her grow up a goose.”

The couple was risking to return to their usual bickering, so Merlin coughed tactfully. They became serious at once.

“So, Merlin, any news?” said Kayley.

Merlin retold the prophecy to them, and like Arthur, they were very confused.

“Heaven and earth?” said Kayley and frowned. “How is that possible?”

“It could be something very simple”, said Merlin. “I remember when king Pellinore asked how to get rid of his Beast. He got a prophecy saying that he needed a man who is not harmed by burning sun. Which is absolutely correct, because sir Palomides is moorish, and you can’t get more sunburnt than that.”

“So ‘heaven and earth’ could be symbolic”, said Garrett. “Pleasant as heaven and harsh as earth?”

“That’s pretty symbolic, too”, pointed Kayley out.

“Could be colours”, suggested Merlin. “Some people have one eye in each colour. Are you alright?”

He said this because Kayley had suddenly turned all pale. She was staring disbelieving towards the house.

“What? Yes, I’m fine. It’s just that... Kate... She has one brown and one blue eye.”

“You told me that”, said Garrett slowly. “I just forgot.”

“And I didn’t even notice!” Merlin reproached himself.

“But it couldn’t possibly be Kate”, said Kayley, against her better judgement.

Merlin knitted his bristly eyebrows.

“She was on her way to Camelot, saying she wanted to help the king. And I just sent her home like a stupid child. I reacted just the way the Lady warned me not to.”

Two hands joined together in agony.

“He’s not even human”, said Kayley. “And I know what he’s capable of. All those people he has murdered, and he kidnapped the queen... I don’t want my daughter killed.”

“Kayley”, said Garrett.

“No! I don’t want to!”

“You think I do? But he’s aiming for England. I don’t think we have a choice.”

 

Thus, once again the knights gathered around Leviathan’s magic walls, and this time an eight-year-old was among them. Nobody had tried to hide the dangers from Kate, but she had understood more from her parents’ faces and tone of voice than from their actual words. Now she stood looking at the blue sparks, and she felt sick. The being who had made these walls wasn’t a man, and he didn’t have those good traits that even the worst of men have. She wanted to run home and close the door, but she mustn’t.

This isn’t really happening, she thought. And then, some part of her told her: That’s right! The walls aren’t there!

She raised her head and looked at the massive walls, telling herself they weren’t there. But the sparks...

The sparks aren’t there either

And so, to the astonishment of everybody else, she walked up to the walls and then proceeded right through. She saw the walls and blue flames disappear around her, but to the others they were still very much there.

“Kate?” asked Garrett when everyone around him turned silent.

“She... she got through”, replied Kayley, amazed.

“How?”

“It’s called bending reality”, answered Merlin, who stood beside them. “The things you believe exist do exist, and the other way around. It’s not a rare gift among children, but to be able to use it under stress...” He shook his head. “I don’t think our choice was a coincidence.”

 

On the other side of the walls, Kate turned around with a bright smile, realising she’d actually gotten through. She streched her hand out to open the door. It was locked. When she told herself the door wasn’t really there, her hand sunk right through the handle. She said a word little girls aren’t supposed to know of, but that she had heard her father say once when he didn’t know she was listening.

She began to realise that even if she could walk through these walls, she couldn’t bring anyone else in. She was all alone here. That was pretty frightening.

She took a deep breath and then turned back. In front of her, there was a small shield. In ornated letters it wrote “Katherine”.

“That’s me!” she said. “It’s for me!”

It could be a trick, but she had a strong feeling it wasn’t, and when she took the shield nothing bad happened. Instead she felt braver and more confident than before.

Within the walls there really wasn’t a building at all, but a piece of landscape. Kate looked around and was surprised to see it was very beautiful. She was standing in a grove that was full of brooks, ponds and waterfalls. As she walked forward she saw someone in the corner of her eye. She turned around quickly and found herself looking at herself. The waterfall reflected her image. She was taken aback, because even though she knew very well that water makes a good mirror, she also knew that only worked with stagnant water. Her hand reached out, as if it had a will of its own, and tried to touch the reflection.

The image grinned, and a brownish, muddy hand gripped hers. She screamed wildly and threw herself back, fighting the hand off. For a second she stood frozen, and then she started running along the brooks in panic. Everywhere there were reflecions of her, as clear as in a silver mirror.

“My poor child!”

Her head turned around. It was her mothers voice, and yes, that was mother standing in front of her, with her arms streched to hug her. Kate smiled relieved and rushed closer. But then suddenly mother was everywhere, there were hundreds of her, and Kate didn’t know which one was real. And then, too late, she realised that none of them was, and hundreds of reflecions reached out. A pair of real, but certainly not motherly, arms pressed her down in a pond. She fought desperately and managed to get her head above water.

“Mother!” she screamed. “Mother! Help me!”

But she knew no one would rescue her, no one could come through the walls. The demon pressed her down again, and she breathed in water. Her lungs ached and she saw red flashes before her eyes, and finally she didn’t even have the strenght to fight him.

Then the pressure stopped, and a moment later strong arms lifted her up. She coughed and threw up water, and then she could actually breath again, even if it still hurt, she breathed air.

“Mother”, she panted.

And this time it wasn’t an illusion, it was actually Kayley, in a brown tunic and with a bow and quiver. When Kate turned her head she saw the demon lying next to her with her mother’s arrow in his back. His face was turned towards her, and she was amazed of his beauty. It was the face of an angel on the body of a sea monster.

“You came...”

It was half a question, and Kayley answered it, hugging her daughter tightly.

“We heard you scream. That’s the worst thing I’d ever heard, I thought I’d lost you. And then the doors just opened... It was like some wild beast had pushed it open from the inside.”

“Maybe it was her will”, said another voice.

Kate looked up. Merlin was standing next to her with the other knights and with...

“Father!” she said and tried to stand up. It didn’t work very well, but Garrett grabbed her and held her closely.

“My Tiny”, he mumbled. “Thank God you’re alive! Let me take a look at you.”

Kate usually found it a bit trying when her father “took a look” at her, because it tickled so awfully, but now she willingly placed her face in his seeing hands, enjoying every human touch. Tears streamed down her cheeks and he wiped them, even though he cried himself, and so did Kayley.

“Can you stand on your own?” asked Kayley with her voice half-choked.

Kate nodded, and doing so she found that all the reflections were gone.

“Mother?” she said. “How did you know which one was me?”

“Oh, Tiny”, answered Kayley and stroke her hair. “I’ll always recognize the real you, and I’ll do my best to protect you from anyone who tries and harm you.”

The were getting ready to leave when a knight said:

“There’s a helmet here.”

And so there was, a slender helmet with Kayley’s name on it.

“It is given to the one who kills Azael”, said Merlin.

“I got the shield”, said Kate. “But I didn’t kill anyone.”

Merlin smiled.

“You killed the wall.”

 

They all walked on to a windswept field, but then a voice spoke from nowhere:

“Halt, enemies!” it said. “You may have killed Azael, but I am Azazel, and I will let no one through!”

Some of the more go-ahead knights drew their swords and proceeded, but suddenly they were all pushed aside, seemingly by nothing.

“O my God”, whispered Kayley. “It’s an invisible army!”

“Not an army”, answered Garrett. “It’s one demon, but a damn big one.”

“Well, if it’s that big it should be easy to hit”, said Kayley and drew her bow.

The arrow flew to the air, and as it hit its target, Kayley’s chin fell down.

“What the...” she said.

“What’s wrong?”

“I hit it! I know I did! But the arrow just bounced right back!”

Garrett nodded.

“Four legs, big tail and wings... I guess it’s a scaly dragon.”

“How do you kill them?”

“Don’t know.”

At that time, the knights who had tried and fight Azazel found it wise to retire.

“It’s no use, your majesty”, said sir Lamorak. “We can’t fight something we can’t see.”

“Maybe you can’t”, said Garrett and stepped forward. He frowned. “I should have taken a sword, the staff just won’t do.”

“You can have mine”, muttered sir Gawaine. “But it’s suicide to let you out there alone.”

“Yeah, well you wouldn’t be much help”, said Garrett, gave his staff to Kayley and let Gawaine put the sword in his hands. “Listen, you heard the boy, I’m the only one who stands a chance.”

“You just said you don’t know how to kill it”, reminded Kayley.  
“I’ll just have to find out.” 

“No!” Kayley was speaking firmly, but her voice was low so the demon wouldn’t hear her. “Maybe we can’t do much good, but we’ll keep the dragon occupied.”

He shook his head.

“I don’t want people everywhere, standing in my way and making noises so I can’t hear the dragon.”

“Okay, how about archers?”

Kayley’s cheeks were red. She was a lady of action, and she wasn’t going to be a simple bystander to her husband’s death.

Garrett understood this. He thought for a moment, and then he agreed.

“As long as you don’t shoot me.”

And then the battle started. It seemed a strange dance, and an ignorant spectator would think that Garrett was only showing off his skills with the sword and his litheness. But to Kate, the whole scene was horrid. Her father fought for his life, panting and sweating, and now and then risked being hit by an arrow, while the knights stood on a line shooting arrows haphazard, since their only guidance was the one they mustn’t shoot.

Some of the arrows hit the ground, others bounced back, and a few actually seemed to stay in the air, but without making any damage. But then the demon grunted, and an arrow was torn to pieces. It seemed to have hit unpleasantly if not lethally.

Garrett saw his opportunity and brandished his sword. And before the eyes of the others Azazel became visible. His head, like Azael’s, was the one of an angel, and the arms were human-like, but with ghastly claws. The rest of him was most definitely dragon.

And right in the greyish neck Garrett had thrust his sword.

He walked slowly back to the others, his hair was stuck to his face by sweat, and blood was streaming from his shoulder. Then he stumbled, and half fell, and his wife and daughter rushed towards him.

“Are you hurt?” asked Kayley anxiously.

“Not much”, he answered. “There’s something lying in the ground.”

Kate picked it up.

“It’s your reward, father”, she said. “A belt with your name on it.”

“Then by all means, give it to me”, he said and tried to smile though exhausted. “And Kayley, can I have my staff back, please?”

They both obeyed him, and after they had taken care of his wound everyone passed on, away from the sickening smell of death and evil magic.

“He was so brave fighting that invisible monster”, whispered Kate to her mother.

“They’re all invisible, Tiny”, answered Kayley with a sad smile. “And he is truly the bravest man I know.”

 

They arrived to a rocky landscape, with smoke rising from a hill. Then a great puff of fire came out and made them retire. Up from the mountain came another demon, with the body of a salamander, and Kate stared fascinated and appaled at the split tongue speaking from his angelic mouth.

“Foolish travellers!” it said. “The old wizard is deceiving you, there is no way you can win! My master is stronger than yours, and he has laid a spell on me that will protect me from all harm. A prophecy says: ‘The number of Samael’s slayers will not be one, nor two, nor more than two. He will never be killed by anything but what comes from inside and out’.”

He then threw another ball of fire, that seemed to grow from his hands, and the company hurried to take cover in a cave.

“I’m really getting tired of this”, muttered Arthur.

“This was just fine”, said a lady called Isotta. “We can’t kill him! Unless he’s lying”, she added hopefully and looked at Merlin.

But Merlin shook his head.

“Oh, no, he’s not lying. Demons don’t lie if they can deceive you by telling the truth -or the half-truth, more accurately.”

“We can kill him?” asked Arthur.

“We must kill him. We can’t very well have the king of demons as the king of England. But how?”

They all sat silent. Kate peeked out at the hill, from where fire still came, occasionally. Suddenly, something struck her.

“You fight fists with fists”, she said, slowly and exited, “swords with swords and fire with fire!”

The others looked at her, puzzled. She smiled at them.

“Don’t you get it? Fire can come from the inside! Not one and not two, but both one and two, or maybe one and a half?”

“What are you talking about, Kate?” asked Kayley.

“I think she refers to your admirers, mylady”, said Merlin.

Kayley made a brief, snorting laugh.

“Devon and Cornwall!?” she exclaimed. “Now, that’s a thought! But how on earth will they get here?”

She lifted her eyes to the sky, where the electric flames sparkled like a giant ceiling. Then she lowered them again and gave her daughter a thoughtful look.

“Oh, I can’t, mother”, cried Kate.

“You opened the door for us”, reminded her Kayley.

“Yes, I know, but I don’t know how! I don’t think I could do it again.”

“Something is using you, child”, said Merlin solemnly. “I am certain that something will help you now.”

“Oh, I don’t want it!” cried Kate desperately. Wanting knighthood was one thing, this was completely different. She hated this new, sudden feeling of not being alone in her own mind. “I really don’t want it! And besides”, she added, “even if I can open the sky they wouldn’t be here to enter.”

“Oh, I’m quite confident I can make them come”, answered Merlin smiling.

Kate sighed. She knew she had lost. And when the king gave her a pleading look she nodded silently.

“That’s my brave Tiny”, said Kayley and took her hand.

Kate squeezed it, and reached out to squeeze her father’s hand as well. Thus holding on to them both, she looked up and concentrated her thoughts on the sky.

Somewhere she heard Merlin half-singing a strange spell:

“Eucser ruo ot llawnroc dna noved nogard dedaeh-owt eht tnavres yht dnes, erif fo rotaerc ythgim!”

But most of her just stood tense until she saw the familiar shape of the dragon flying above her. Then she stepped forward, only half knowing what she did, and the flames bent down as a cylinder around her. Into this cylinder she called Devon and Cornwall, and when they had landed she relaxed, and the sky closed again.

“Whew! That was a pretty impressive performance from a little girl!” said Cornwall impressed.

“You know, Merlin”, said Devon, “I wish you weren’t so pushy. You could at least have waited until I had finished my meal.” And he threw away the last bone of a chicken.

Right then, Samael decided to make his precence known by throwing another fire-ball at the company. Both the heads of the dragon cried out simultaneously, and as the ball passed close behind them, they jumped into the cave’s shelter.

“Well, that’s rude!” shouted Cornwall.

“I can quite see your problem”, admitted Devon to Merlin. “What is it you want us to do?”

Everybody hurried to explain the matter.

“Alright”, said Devon when they were finished. “One fried salamander it is!”

He attempted to fly, but nothing happened, and he looked severely at Cornwall.

“Hold it, pal!” he answered. “Listen, Kayley, you’ve made your choice, but what about the little one. She’ll be quite a dame in a few years, even if she’s got her dad’s chin, and I don’t mind waiting.”

“Oh, certainly”, said Kayley dryly. “You’re the perfect match, aren’t you? Guys, you know I love you both, but can’t you do everyone a favour and find yourself a reptile bride?”

“If we do, it won’t be the hideous carcass you left behind”, said Devon. “Who killed that one?”

“I did”, said Garrett.

“Good for you, eagle-eye!” exclaimed Cornwall. “Ow!”

Because a spark of another fire-ball had hit him.

“He’s got quite a hot temper, doesn’t he?” said Devon and watched his other head swearing and blowing on his arm.

“I don’t like him!” hollered Cornwall.

And so they rose, and just as Samael threw away another ball, the dragon exhaled a double flame. The strength of this flame made the ball return to its master, and it struck him in his face with the intensity of a vulcano.

“Ouh!” groaned Kate, and nobody blamed her, because it was indeed a hideous sight, how the flesh was instantly burnt away from the head and the skull left bare and dead. For a moment, the body remained standing, without realising that it was dead, and then it swayed and fell like a tree.

And buried in the skull stood a sword. On one side the word Cornwall was ingraved, on the other, Devon.

“We don’t use swords!” objected Devon.

“Keep it”, said Merlin. “It’s not to be wasted.”

 

“I do hope we’re not to meet with another one of those demons”, said Arthur. “I had only a few gray hairs this morning, but I swear it will all be snow white before nightfall.”

“If my calculations are correct, there’s one left”, said Merlin. “Azael was bound to the waters, Azazel to the sky and Samael to fire. Earth is yet to come.”

A clappering was heard, and everybody froze, believing this was the fourth monster. But it was only a beautiful dapple-grey horse that came galloping. Its flanks were red with blood, and it was frothing at the mouth.

“Poor little thing!” shouted Kate.

The horse approached her, and she patted it gently.

“Look at her, she’s been beaten!” cried Kate. “How can anyone beat a beautiful mare like this?”

“Horrible, but not surprising”, said Kayley. “Look at the halter, she has torn it in attempt to escape. How fortunate that she managed to get away.”

“What a strange halter”, said sir Lancelot and touched it. “Look -it has plates attached to it as decoration. But although the first plate is golden, the second one is just made of wood.”

“But a fine wood”, said Arthur. “Chestnut I think. Beautifully polished! And then emerald and nacre.”

The horse gave the king and the knight a trustful look, that made Merlin frown.

“Gold, wood, emerald and nacre”, he said, thoughfully.

The horse looked up and whinnied. Then it cantered to Garrett and started pushing him.

“Hey, girl, what’s up?” he asked and tried to caress her, but she moved away and started sniffing at Kayley’s water bottle.

“Thirsty, are you?” she said, but the horse only snorted and started digging in the ground with her hoof. Then she ate a few needles from a pine tree, and then, to everybody’s amazement, she started all over again.

“Is she crazy or something?” asked sir Lancelot concerned.

“Gold, wood, emerald, nacre”, mumbled Merlin again. “Or... Garrett, water, earth, needles. G-W-E-N.”

Sir Lancelot stared at him.

“Jenny?” he said, disbelieving.

“She’s a horse?!” said Arthur in more or less the same tone of voice.

“A beaten horse!” said Kate indignantly.

The mare -or the queen, as she had turned out to be- buried her nose in Arthur’s jacket. He stroke her gently.

“My poor Gwen”, he said. “Merlin, can you turn her back?”

And Merlin gave it a fair try, but finally had to give up.

“It is clearly that kind of spell that can only be broken if the creator dies”, he said. “But if we don’t kill Leviathan, mylady Guenivere wouldn’t be much happier as a woman.”

 

They could now see Leviathan’s castle, but it was guarded by innumerous bat-winged angels, and in their way lay a huge snake with an angel’s face.

“Hello!” it said. Kate found that it had a split tongue just like Samael, but its voice was quite mild.

“As you can see -or most of you, anyway”, it proceeded, “we can outnumber you. Nobody enters this castle, Leviathan’s power is far too strong. In fact, you can’t even kill me. I am stronger than any of my brothers, and if you cut off my head, another one will grow out of its place.”

“And who might you be?” sighed Arthur.

“I am Mehazael, and I serve a king whose power is much stronger than yours. He gave your wife her present shape. You can’t change it, and neither can that old wizard you call your friend. Why don’t you just give up, king of England, you know you can’t win.”

“Give up?” said Arthur scornfully.

“Yes!” answered the snake in a friendly voice. “My master is not too harsh on a fallen enemy. He would spare your life, maybe even let you keep your throne, as long as you admitted his supremacy.”

“And what about my people?” asked Arthur, speaking with difficulty. His eyes were longing.

“Do they really matter?” asked the snake. “Aren’t they all willing to die for the king of England? Don’t disappoint them, let them keep their king. We can give you everything you ever dreamed of! Look at you know, you’re just a petty little man, who can’t even keep his own lady. But with our help you can be more than that. It wouldn’t take a large sacrifice...”

“Just my soul?” interrupted Arthur. “I would rather give my throne to this child than to your master! At least she would treat my people with respect. I am the one who doesn’t matter. The king of England is nothing if he gives in to your kind. Maybe I can’t behead you, but there are other ways to kill!”

And thus he drew Excalibur and cut the snake’s throat, but only deep enough to kill. A mass of blood ejected, and Arthur looked so pale that Merlin laid a hand on his shoulder.

“He was indeed stronger than his brothers”, mumbled the king.

“Bravo, your majesty, bravo!” hailed a small voice.

The king looked down. By his feet, there was a mole, and as he looked around, other moles were coming up from the ground.

“Th-thank you”, he stammered, and then he shook his head. “Forgive me, is it the mole speaking?”

“It indeed is, sire, indeed”, shouted the little animal. “We moles have been slaves here for months, and we are most grateful that you saved us, most grateful, sire! Please, take your reward, sire, please do.”

And the mole took out a minute breastplate.

“Well, I’d say...” said the king amazed and kneeled. “Greetings, mole. May I ask for your name?”

“I am Talpa, leader of the Moles, sire”, replied the mole.

“Nice to meet you, Talpa”, said king Arthur and shook paws. “But I’m afraid it’s too small for me.”

“Won’t be for long, sire, won’t be for long”, answered the mole and blew on the breastplate. It grew immediately to Arthur’s size. Talpa winked with his little black eye to Merlin.

“Well master, how do you like my little trick?”

“Very nice, collegue”, said the wizard.  
“Now, tell me, Talpa”, said the king. “How come you talk with a human tongue?” 

The mole waved to the king to come closer, and then he whispered:

“Magic.”

“Really?” said the king impressed.

Talpa nodded gravely.

“I and my people had the good fortune to be born in a place where magic is quite strong, sire, quite strong. In our home even the trees have a will of their own, and the animals are as human as they can get without losing their integrity. What’s real and what’s not gets mixed together to a fairy-tale stew...”

“That’s music to my ears, Talpa”, interrupted Garrett.

The mole was startled. He squinted at Garrett, and then he moved a bit closer. A big mole-smile came over his face.

“Well, cousin, my dear cousin!” he exclaimed. “How lovely to meet you here, how lovely indeed! And you too, fair cousin-and-wife-of-my-cousin”, he said and bowed to Kayley. “I don’t believe you have grown, no, you were already as tall as a tree when you first burst through the Forest like a young elephant. Oh, yes, as tall as a tree! And lovely to meet you, cousin-and-daughter...”

Here he stopped.

“Greetings, mylady!” he shouted and did something he hadn’t even done for the king: he fell flat on his face.

Kate believed he had stumbled and rushed to kneel down.

“Are you hurt, mr mole?” she asked.

“Hurt!” said the mole, and his little eyes glittered. “Hurt, she asked. No mylady, I’m not hurt, not hurt at all. I am only most grateful that the Heaven and the Earth have sent their messenger, and in such a neat little shape, too. Please tell me, mylady, tell me how I can help?”

“Well”, said Kate and looked at the bat-winged angels who guarded the castle. “Is their any way in there?”

“Far too many, mylady”, said the mole and shuddered. “Far too many. No safe way, though. There is an almost safe way, only almost, you see.”

“Which way is that?”

“My way!” said the mole proudly and pointed at the hole.

“That’s a bit too small for a man”, commented sir Gawaine.

“Oh, yes, quite, quite”, said the mole. “Not big enough for a child, even, but I do believe... Yes, I do believe it’s big enough for a mole who happens to be a little girl.”

His glittering eyes turned back to Kate.

“Not alone”, she pleaded.

“Alone!?” he cried. “Certainly not, no, certainly not alone. I will go with you, I will, and if my master would be kind enough to come as well, the rest of you could, say, sneak in the back door?”

“There is a back door?” asked the king.

“Leviathan’s own entrance, sire”, answered Talpa. “But it only opens from within sire, yes, only from within. But if you all leave to this place...” and he gave them directions.

“I’m not sure I want to do this”, said Kate when the knights started to leave.

“Don’t be afraid”, said Arthur kindly and stroke her hair. “Merlin will be there with you, and I assure you it’s rather fun to be an animal. That is”, he continued gloomily with a glance at his queen, “if it’s your own choice.”

And when Talpa and Merlin had made Kate into a little mole, she found she actually did enjoy it. The mole’s passages where low and winding, but they were nice nevertheless. Compared to the earlier horrors of this day, it was quite a picnic.

“You have been a brave girl, a very brave girl indeed”, said Talpa when they were done, and kissed her hand. “I would really want to reward you, but I believe you’ve had a reward, and someone else hasn’t.”

“Oh, by all means, give it to Merlin!” said Kate and smiled.

She didn’t know where he got them, but suddenly Talpa had a pair of shoes that he gave to Merlin, and Merlin put them on and laid his own aside.

They found the back door. For a such, it was a remarkable entrance, very much ornamented and with magic signs written on it.

“Leviathan thinks he’s the only one who knows how to open this door”, said Talpa, “but I have seen him do it many times, many times indeed. It’s always wrong to underestimate the little, yes, always wrong.”

And so he opened the door and let the others in, and they all burst through the door to Leviathan’s chambers. And there was Leviathan himself, not a magic image this time.

“You have sunk low, Arthur”, he said. “I knew you took help of women and cripples, but children? What kind of a king are you?”

“One who doesn’t despise even the humblest of his subjects”, answered the king calmly.

“How touching”, said Leviathan. “But it will not help you conquer me.”

And he turned his back to them.

“We need not conquer you”, said the mole, and for once he wasn’t repeating himself. “We have already defeated you completely. With us we have the shield of faith, because as Kate’s faith got her through your walls, our faith will get us through all difficulties.

We have the helmet of salvation, because as Kayley saved Kate from a certain death, we will be saved by the one who loves us and knows us even when we don’t know ourselves.

We have the belt of truth, because as the blind Garrett could see the real truth and defeat his enemy, we will loin our girts about with truth and close our eyes to falseness and thus defeat all evil.

We have the sword of the Spirit, because as Devon and Cornwall joined in spirit and burned your demon, if we join the Spirit we can turn all demons into ashes.

We have the breastplate of righteousness, because as Arthur was victorious through his righteousness, we will all be victorious if we are truly righteous.

We have the shoes of preparation, because as Merlin and Kate were prepared to follow me into the fiend’s nest, we must all shoe our feet with preparation of the gospel of peace.

And that - is how we win.”

He stopped, and looked thriumphantly at Leviathan, who stood pale and silent.

“What will you do with me then?” he asked.

Kate spoke, without knowing where the words came from.

“I speak on behalf of Heaven and Earth”, she said. “Because of the pain and agony you have caused their inhabitants, you are banished from both. Begone, demon, and go back where you came from.”

Her words were followed by dead silence. Then came a flash, of pure darkness instead of pure light, and he was gone. Likewise were the castle and the angels. The usual English landscape spreaded around them.

And beside Arthur sat the queen, naked and with her back whipped. The king hurried to wrap his jacket around her and help her stand up.

“Whew! That was quite a trying ordeal!” she said and smiled. “Thank you child, thank all of you!”

Kate smiled at her, faintly.

“Merlin”, she said in a low voice, “I feel so empty.”

“That’s because your mission is done”, said the wizard gently. “It’s only you in there now.”

 

A few days later, Merlin came again to the farm near the Forest.

“So, how is Kate?” he asked.

Kayley shrugged.

“She’s so...”

“Melacholy, I guess you could call it”, Garrett filled in. “She plays with the little ones, but I swear her soul’s not in it.”

“We’re kind of worried about her”, added Kayley.

Merlin sat down and told the others to do the same.

“You have all reason to worry”, he said. “It is unreasonable to believe that a girl can be possessed by a force of nature and see all kind of horrible things without changing.”

“Possessed?” said Garrett, and his anxious hand sought Kayley’s.

“Not in a bad sense”, hurried Merlin to say. “Maybe ‘chosen’ is a better word. Which is the reason why I am here. You are wonderful people, and I have no doubt that you are wonderful parents and eventually would make Kate get over her scaring experiences. But she’s very receptive to magic, and I don’t want her to be misused in the future. Even if the powers of Heaven and Earth have left her, she still has their mark to prove that she is special.”

“So, what are you saying?” asked Kayley. “My child is a medium?”

“More or less”, answered Merlin. “And I would like your permission to tutor her, so she can make the best of that gift.”

“Good grief!” exclaimed Kayley. “I saw what she did, do you think I can refuse?”

Garrett stood quiet, and Merlin asked him:

“And what do you think?”

“I think... you ought to ask Kate.”

Merlin went inside the barn, where Kate and her younger siblings were destroying the hay. He stated his errand and asked how she felt about it.

“Can I still come home sometimes?” she asked, hesitating.

“Of course!” he assured her. “Camelot’s not far away.”

“Camelot”, she mumbled, and her eyes got the brilliance that the word had given her mother’s as well. “Will I be a knight then?”

Merlin nodded.

“The first knight-sorceress of England”, he laughed. “But why not? Someone has to be the first, and I dare say it runs in your family.”

 

The departure was not a very sad one, because Kate was so anxious to leave, it infected her parents, who both started to laugh. She kissed them farewell, and then John, Mallory, the servants and lady Prisca. (Garrett - as mean as always - later declared to his wife that the best thing of this arrangement was that lady Prisca would stay away until the younger were old enough to have lessons.)

When they arrived at Camelot, Kate was so overwhelmed she just stopped in the middle of the courtyard, and a pony was about to run into her.

“Are you crazy!?” shouted the rider, a lank boy of maybe twelve years. “I could have killed you!”

Kate was ashamed, but far to proud to admit it.

“No you couldn’t”, she said, and her cheeks glowed. “That pony’s too chubby, I’d just bounce back.”

The boy stared at her.

“You must be the dumbest kid alive”, he said.

“I’m not a dumb kid to you!” she objected. “I’ll be a knight some day.”

“A girl knight?”

“What’s that supposed to mean? My mother’s a knight!”

“Oh yeah? My father is a knight, too!”

“So is mine”, she said triumphantly.

He grinned at her.

“Well, then you ought to know better than to stop where other people are training!”

“Kate!” shouted Merlin, and she hurried to catch up with him.

“He was so insolent!”, she said angrily. “Is everybody in Camelot like that?”

“Er, what?” said the wizard. “No, I’m afraid not.”

And that answer, thought Kate, just didn’t make any sense at all.

The End


End file.
